Irrational Fears
by Private LL Church
Summary: Everyone has fears that plague them at night; even Katara. Some of these fears though can be a bit...irrational.


**Disclaimer: I don't own Avatar The Last Airbender. Really, I don't.**

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><p><em>Katara stood in an empty field as heavy winds blew around her. Lightning crackled unrelentingly in the sky as the grass swayed at her feet. Rain pouring down on her, she looked around only to find an endless abyss of the black cloud accompanied by the field that she found herself in. She didn't know how she got here…she was lost.<em>

"_Hello," she yelled desperately over the sounds of the storm, "Anyone?"_

_Nothing answered, nothing happened. She was alone._

_The waterbender walked slowly forward, thinking about what to do. Suddenly, more lightning shot through the sky as a blue flash glowed from behind her. She quickly turned around to find Aang standing there, her boyfriend, and savior of the world. The Avatar._

_She quickly realized however that it wasn't the Aang she knew. His tattoos and eyes glowed a bright blue as he simply stared at her. She quickly recognized the glowing for what it was…the Avatar State. She began to run towards him, wanting to figure out what it was that put him in this state, and eager to calm him down like she always did. She wasn't expecting what happened next._

_She found herself blown backwards several feet by a powerful blast of air. Her body sprawled on the ground as she looked up to find Aang's glowing eyes narrowing as they looked down at her._

"_Aang, what are you doing!" she screamed._

_The Avatar did not seem to hear her. Slowly, lightning began to gather around him as the electricity sparked around his body. Katara's heart began to beat faster at the display as a wave of fear washed over her. Katara began to back away nervously as her boyfriend gathered up the lightning at his finger tips. The lightning shot out straight at her as the storm swallowed up her screams…_

"NOOOOO!"

Katara quickly sat up from her sweat stricken bed, throwing the covers off of her as she took in a gasp of air. Her heart was pounding, her eyes frantically darting through the room trying to take in her surroundings. It was all recognizable. She was in her room, in the house in Ba Sing Se that belonged to her and the rest of her friends. _It was only a dream, a nightmare, _she told herself. That knowledge did not calm her though.

The young waterbender moved herself to the edge of her bed, her legs dangling off the sides. She closed her eyes as a few tears ran down her cheeks. She had never felt so scared, so alone. And what was worse was that Aang had caused that fear. The person she cared about most, the one that she believed would never hurt her. _Why had that nightmare seemed so real then?_

Katara slowly stood up and put on her nightgown as she opened the door to the balcony that connected her room to the outside. She leaned against the railing, her body shaking as she tried to calm herself down. She found it useless though and she sat down on the ground, pulling her knees to her chest as a sob managed to escape her throat.

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><p>Aang walked quietly through the halls of the house trying not to wake anyone. He had been unable to go to sleep so far that night and after an hour or so of trying to find relaxation he had simply given up. Now, he was on his way back from meditating in the garden that was located behind the house and he felt like he was calm enough to finally get some sleep.<p>

All thoughts of that vanished though when he heard the sound of someone crying. It was barely recognizable, the walls drowning out most of the noise, but Aang was able to follow the sound to Katara's door. _Oh no_, he thought. He hated it when Katara was upset. He wanted nothing more than to see her happy and the sound of her crying never failed to break his heart. He knocked on her door softly.

"Katara?"

No answer.

"Katara?" He repeated, but he was again answered with silence.

He opened the door slowly to find his girlfriend curled up on her balcony with her knees drawn up to her chest and her head buried in her arms. He could see her body shaking and he could hear her sobs more clearly than he did in the halls which caused an aching feeling to form in his heart.

He slowly walked and knelt down beside her, "Katara, are you okay?" he asked quietly, reaching for her shoulder.

At the sound of his voice, the girl quickly raised her head up to meet his eyes that were full of concern for her. "Aang?"

A few more tears dripped down her face as he drew her against him, wrapping his arms around her body protectively. "Shh, it's okay Katara." He whispered, trying to calm her down, "Everything's okay."

He began to rock her gently as she sobbed into his chest, clinging to him with all her strength. He whispered words of comfort to her as he rested his cheek on top of her head, stoking her back with one of his hands, trying anything that would help her. After a few minutes Katara managed to calm herself as she pulled herself away from him a little bit, but not leaving his embrace.

Aang's eyes met hers and he was finally able to get a good look at the waterbender. Dried up tears covered her face and her eyes were red and puffy. Her long dark air was a mess, with strands of it going out everywhere. He slowly reached up to take a few of the strands out of her face and tucked them behind her ear, before cupping her cheek in his hand.

"What's wrong, Katara?"

Katara turned her head into his hand, kissing his palm. "It's nothing," she replied, as a gentle breeze blew around them causing her to shiver.

"It's not nothing Katara," Aang said, stroking her cheek with his thumb, "come on, let's go inside and we'll talk okay?" he suggested, seeing that she was a little cold.

Katara only nodded, and stood up before walking inside. Aang followed her in to find that she was already sitting on the bed and he sat down next to her.

"Katara," Aang gazed at her, "please…tell me what's wrong. I want to help you."

Katara refused to meet his gaze though. She turned her head away from him and closed her eyes. She didn't want to tell him about her nightmare, she didn't want to have to say that she had been afraid of him…that he had attacked her. She couldn't tell him that, she wouldn't.

Aang sighed, "Katara…please, talk to me!" he begged, reaching up to cup her face once again as he turned her head towards his.

She met his eyes for a second before looking down at her lap, "I…I don't want to talk about it Aang," she said quietly. She sounded scared as her voice quivered a little, "t-trust me…you wouldn't w-want to hear it."

"I do want to hear it though. I hate seeing you like this Katara. I hate seeing you this upset. I want to help you, but you need to tell me what's wrong," Aang looked at her sadly. They were always so open with each other and it hurt him a little that she was closing him off like this. Aang had a good idea though on what it was that made Katara upset. It was the only thing that could happen this late at night to make her this upset.

"Was it a nightmare?" he guessed.

Katara nodded, knowing that he wasn't going to give up. He would get it out of her eventually. She couldn't force herself to try to keep pushing him away. Looking into his eyes and seeing the concern radiating from them, she knew that her attitude was hurting him inside. That was the last thing she wanted. She didn't want to hurt him, she wanted him close. She knew she would have to tell him the truth. She sighed, not knowing how he would take it.

She heard him continue, "Katar-."

"Would you ever hurt me Aang?" She blurted out quickly, looking back up from her lap to his eyes.

"What? I would nev-."

"Even if you were in the Avatar State?" she finished, cutting him off.

Aang drew himself away from her, looking at his girlfriend through wide eyes. She saw a mixture of emotions play across his face; confusion turned into surprise, and then sadness. She saw a few tears gathering in his eyes and she instantly regretted mentioning it.

"Is t-that what your nightmare was about?" Aang asked, nervously, "Did I hurt you Katara?

She thought about lying, thought about saying no but he had figured it out. Lying to him would only hurt him more. Their relationship was based on trust, they never lied to each other, and she wasn't about to start that now. "Yes," she answered, regretfully.

Aang looked down sadly. Part of him didn't know what to think. He would never hurt Katara, but she had a nightmare about just that. Aang knew that people had nightmares about things they were afraid of most of the time, and if that applied to her… "Are you scared of me?" Aang murmured sadly. He hated the thought that he had caused this fear that had made her break down crying in the middle of the night, the thought of Katara fearing him, when he only wanted her love, ripped his heart to shreds.

Katara took his chin in her hand and forced his head up to look at her, "No," She whispered quietly but firmly, "No Aang, I could never be afraid of you. I love you…and I always will…," she smiled at him, smiling even more when he gave her a weak smile back. She then continued, "but I may be afraid of the Avatar State."

"I…well…I can understand that," Aang admitted quietly. Even though she always tried getting him out of the Avatar State, he knew that it must take a lot of courage to go up against it the way she did. No one but her ever gets as close to the Avatar State as she does and he knew deep down, she probably feared it just like everyone else, or even more. He looked into her eyes deeply before continuing, "I need you to know though…I would NEVER hurt you Katara, no matter what happens…even if I was in the Avatar State. I wouldn't allow that to happen. The thought of hurting you…I would never be able to forgive myself."

Katara smiled, lightly kissing him on the lips before pulling him into an embrace. He sighed, nestling his head into the crook of her neck and breathing in the sweet scent of her as he hugged her back tightly.

"I know Aang, I know," Katara whispered resting her head on his shoulder, "I just…there are times when you are in the Avatar State that I am just not sure what to do. Its unpredictable and everyone runs from it…and for good reason. I know it may hurt to know that I am afraid of it just like everyone else, but you know what Aang?"

She pulled away from him to see him looking at her questionably.

"I love you more than I fear the Avatar State," she explained, cupping his face in her hands, "I would rather risk myself and face my fear of it then watch you tear yourself apart. I would give anything and everything for you Aang, and nothing will change that. I promise."

Aang smiled at her, feeling a few tears fall from his eyes, but unlike before; they were tears of happiness, not of grief, "Do you really mean that?" He could hardly believe it, she really cared about him that much?

"I mean every word" she said lovingly, and with that, she leaned in to kiss him. Aang sighed, as he gladly kissed her back. The hands that were cupping his face moved to the back of his head, deepening the kiss, as her tongue searched for access into his mouth. He parted his lips, allowing her tongue entrance. She began to explore the inside of his mouth, loving the taste and the soft groans he produced in response. Aang pulled her farther into his mouth, deepening the kiss as his tongue gently stroked hers, eliciting a moan from the girl in his arms as she laid down onto the bed, pulling him on top of her. Her hands roamed up and down his back as his hands stroked her sides. Katara's breathing began to quicken as she struggled to get enough air through her nose. This only worsened when one of his hands moved from her side to run along and rub her upper leg, causing her to kiss him even more passionately. After a few minutes, the couple parted for air, panting heavily as they stared lovingly at each other.

As she laid there on the bed with the young Avatar hovering over her protectively, she saw the fondness and adoration he held for her in his grey eyes and she began to wonder why she even believed that even the Avatar State would hurt her. She began to believe that maybe, the Avatar State looked out for her wellbeing as much as he did. After all, it was as much as part of him as anything else about him was and with him she always felt so safe, and protected, and loved.

While she was thinking this, the young Avatar began to gently stroke her cheek with the back of his hand. She closed her eyes, loving the feeling.

"Stay with me tonight," she requested softly, not wanting him to leave her.

Aang smiled and bent down to kiss her lips, "of course Katara," he said fondly, laying down beside her and pulling her to him.

Katara sighed, resting her head against his chest, enjoying the soft feeling of his heartbeat. One of his hands stroked her hair while the other one held her tightly around the waist, keeping her close. She snuggled closer to him; wrapping her arms around his body, as she felt sleep begin to overcome her.

"I love you Aang," she whispered tiredly.

"I love you too," he murmured, kissing her forehead.

Katara smiled against his chest, still feeling the comforting feeling of his heart beating, as she slowly drifted off into sleep in the arms of the one she loved.

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><p><strong>Yeah, this was just a nice fluffy Kataang fic. Hope you all enjoyed it.:)<strong>


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